WASHINGTON — In another era, the scene would have been unremarkable. But in President Trump’s Washington, it’s become increasingly rare.
Sitting side by side on stage were Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican, and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat. They traded jokes and compliments instead of insults and accusations, a brief interlude of cordiality in a cacophony of conflict.
Stitt and Moore are the leaders of the National Governors Association, one of a vanishing few bipartisan institutions left in American politics. But it may be hard for the organization, which is holding its annual conference this week, to maintain its reputation as a refuge from polarization.
Trump has broken with custom by declining to invite all governors to the traditional White House meeting and dinner. He has called Stitt, the NGA’s chair, a “RINO,” short for Republican in name only, and continued to feud with Moore, the group’s vice chair, by blaming him for a sewage spill involving a federally regulated pipeline.
The break with tradition reflects Trump’s broader approach to his second term. He has taken a confrontational stance toward some states, withholding federal funds or deploying troops over the objections of local officials.
With the Republican-controlled Congress unwilling to limit Trump’s ambitions, several governors have increasingly cast themselves as a counterweight to the White House.
“Presidents aren’t supposed to do this stuff,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said about the expansion of executive power in recent administrations. “Congress needs to get their act together. And stop performing for TikTok and actually start doing stuff. That’s the flaw we’re dealing with right now.”
Cox, a Republican, said “it is up to the states to hold the line.”
Moore echoed that sentiment in an interview with The Associated Press.
“People are paying attention to how governors are moving, because I think governors have a unique way to move in this moment that other people just don’t,” he said.
Still, governors struck an optimistic tone in panels and interviews Wednesday. Stitt said the conference is “bigger than one dinner at the White House.” Moore predicted “this is going to be a very productive three days for the governors.”
“Here’s a Republican and Democrat governor from different states that literally agree on probably 80% of the things. And the things we disagree on we can have honest conversations on,” Stitt said while sitting beside Moore.
Tensions over the guest list for White House events underscored the uncertainty surrounding the week. During the back-and-forth, Trump feuded with Stitt and said Moore and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis were not invited because they “are not worthy of being there.”
Whether the bipartisan tone struck Wednesday evening can endure through the week — and beyond — remains an open question.
“We can have disagreements. In business, I always want people around me arguing with me and pushing me because that’s where the best ideas come from,” said Stitt. “We need to all have these exchange of ideas.”
Cappelletti and Sloan write for the Associated Press.
MILAN — Jordan Stolz’s run for the speedskating triple crown came up short in the 1,500 meters Thursday, with the American settling for silver behind China’s Ning Zhongyan at the Milan-Cortina Games.
Ning set an Olympic record, blazing the oval at Milano Speed Skating Stadium in 1 minute and 41.98 seconds. Stolz, who won gold in the 500 and 1,000 meters to become the first U.S. man to win in both distances in the same Olympic Games since 1980, had the fastest finishing kick of the top eight skaters, but reached for the line 0.77 of a second behind Ning at 1:42.75.
Stolz was the top-ranked racer in the 1,500-meter distance and raced in the final pair. Watching the speedskating superstar, Ning clasped his hands in prayer during the final race. When the final time flashed across the screen, his coach held Ning’s hands in the air. He began to sob. The 26-year-old earned his first Olympic gold medal after earning bronze in the 1,000 and the team pursuit.
Hoping to win four gold medals in Milan, Stolz still has an opportunity to add a third in the mass start on Saturday.
Feb. 19 (UPI) — A massive blackout left nearly five million people without electricity in Paraguay amid a heat wave that pushed temperatures above 108 degrees Fahrenheit across large parts of the country and as high as 116 degrees Fahrenheit in some areas, according to local meteorological reports.
The outage affected 90% of customers of the National Electricity Administration, or ANDE, the state-run company that supplies nearly the entire population of 6.4 million people.
The interruption on Wednesday also disrupted drinking water services in urban areas due to reliance on electric pumping systems. Nearly 24 hours after the blackout, service had not been fully restored.
The lack of power also impacted health centers and hospitals in cities across the country’s interior. In those cases, emergency infrastructure and generators failed, and doctors and nurses were forced to perform surgical procedures, including a cesarean section, using the light from their cell phones.
Following the blackout, ANDE attributed the interruption to transmission lines going out of service within the system that connects to the Itaipú hydroelectric plant. The company later denied any malfunction at its facilities and said generation operated normally.
Paraguay is one of the world’s largest producers of hydroelectric power thanks to dams such as Itaipú and Yacyretá, which generate surpluses that are even exported to neighboring countries.
In January, Itaipú covered more than 80% of national electricity demand. However, the transmission and distribution system faces scrutiny over recurring failures and a lack of investment.
Specialists argue that the problem does not lie in energy generation but in the limitations of the transmission and distribution system.
“If we continue growing at the current pace, the system will not withstand it,” engineer Guillermo Krauch of the Paraguayan Institute of Electrical Sector Professionals told UPI.
The blackout comes as President Santiago Peña and Foreign Minister Rubén Ramírez Lezcano are scheduled to hold meetings in the United States with executives from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation to analyze potential investment projects related to data centers and artificial intelligence developments in Paraguay.
The government of President Santiago Peña approved special electricity tariffs for large consumers, including data centers, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and high-energy industrial projects.
The Ministry of Industry and Commerce seeks to position Paraguay as a regional technology hub supported by its renewable energy, abundant water resources and comparative cost advantages.
However, technical organizations warn that the accelerated expansion of high-consumption industries could worsen service deterioration if transmission infrastructure is not strengthened.
Víctor Giménez, special projects adviser at the Yacyretá dam, said Paraguay lived for decades under a “false sense of energy security.”
“That time is over. Companies now arrive with the intention to invest, but they leave once they understand there is no guarantee of electricity supply for the next five years,” he said.
Peña is currently in Washington to participate in the Board of Peace and hold meetings with business leaders interested in installing data centers in Paraguay.
The heat wave has lasted several days, and Paraguay ranked among the locations with the highest temperatures recorded globally this week.
We’re in something like award season no man’s land right now: the whirlwind of the Oscar nominees luncheon is behind us, but most of the major precursors have yet to be handed out. Which leaves less for the pundits to chew on, perhaps, though it also means there’s finally some spare time to catch up on your reading.
I’m Matt Brennan, editor in chief of The Envelope. Let me be of some assistance.
Cover story: ‘Sentimental Value’
(Christina House / For The Times)
After an entire award season’s worth of conversations about one of the top contenders, it’s rare to hear a new one this late in the game. But when I ran in “Sentimental Value” director Joachim Trier last week, he happily shared his point of view on an anecdote his editor, Olivier Bugge Coutté, recently shared with The Envelope about killing one of Trier’s darlings. “He was right,” Trier admitted with a half-rueful smile, after describing the elaborate aerial shot over a theater audience with which he originally intended to open the film.
Such candor is also a mark of contributor Bob Strauss’ interview with Trier and star Stellan Skarsgård about making the year’s most-nominated international feature, from their discussion of the stroke that permanently altered the actor’s process to bon mots about the film’s depiction of Netflix, demanding directors and more. I was most tickled by Skarsgård’s, um, unvarnished description of the small screen: “The narrative form of television is based on you not watching,” he tells Strauss. “It explains everything through dialogue so you can make pancakes at the same time.”
Digital cover: Kate Hudson
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
When contributor Amy Amatangelo sent me her pitch for a story on “Song Sung Blue,” it swiftly answered the question I want every pitch to answer: Why are you the right person to write this story?
“I am a lifelong Neil Diamond fan,” she wrote. “My dad loved him. I saw him in concert as a child. My dad and I danced to ‘Beautiful Noise’ at my wedding.”
So it was a no-brainer to set her up with this week’s digital cover star, nominated for playing one half of the film’s Neil Diamond tribute band. “Although she’s had a slew of successes in the interim,” Amatangelo writes of the 25 years since “Almost Famous,” “it can sometimes seem that we’ve underappreciated, and perhaps underestimated, Kate Hudson.”
‘Train Dreams’’ not-so-secret weapon
(Lauren Fleishman/For The Times)
Speaking of pitches, the most frequently suggested subject for coverage since the Oscar nominations (not-named-Chalamet-or-DiCaprio division) may be “Train Dreams” cinematographer Adolpho Veloso. Which already made the Brazilian’s wizardry one of the industry’s worst-kept secrets. Count contributor Emily Zemler’s profile among the final nails in the coffin.
“Capturing the enormous trees that would have existed in the early 20th century was a challenge,” she writes of the film, which spans the life of an itinerant logger in the Pacific Northwest. “The production went to protected parks, where they had to be cautious about not affecting the environment. ‘How do you shoot a movie where they’re supposed to be cutting those trees, but they cannot even get close to those trees?’ Veloso says. ‘It was almost like shooting stunts.’”
The European Commission’s push to embed a so-called European preference in public procurement is triggering heavy lobbying from EU capitals and foreign partners, Euronews has learned.
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The proposal, designed to counter Chinese and US competition, would see products made in Europe officially favoured in public contracts and support schemes. Critics have branded it protectionist, and several member states have sought to water down the definition of “made in Europe” to ensure access for like-minded countries.
According to EU officials, the Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA), which is set to define what made in Europe means, is likely to face another delay despite appearing on the Commission’s agenda for presentation on 26 February. The strategy was first delayed in November 2025.
A leaked draft of the IAA text seen by Euronews lists strategic sectors targeted for a European preference, including chemicals, automotive, AI and space. It also proposes EU-origin thresholds of 70% for EVs, 25% for aluminium and 30% for plastics used in windows and doors.
The draft has drawn intense pushback. Nordic and Baltic states warn that a strict made in Europe regime could deter investment and limit EU companies’ access to cutting-edge technologies from non-EU countries.
In a separate leak reported by Euronews last week, the Commission appeared to lean toward the German position: a European preference open to like-minded partners with reciprocal procurement commitments and those contributing to “the Union’s competitiveness, resilience and economic security objectives”.
Britain concerned about protectionism
The UK is among the partners wary of a protectionist turn, with British officials stressing that the EU and UK economies are highly intertwined.
“It’s not the moment to mess with what is already working,” one official told Euronews.
In particular, the EU remains the largest export market for British cars, while several European manufacturers produce vehicles in the UK, which in 2024 was the EU’s second-largest export destination after the US.
“Almost half of our trade is with the European Union. We trade almost as much with the EU as the whole of the rest of the world combined,” UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves said last week.
British sources also argue that London’s deep capital markets could help the EU secure investment to revive its industry – unless the bloc closes its market.
The Commission is weighing its next move, aiming to table a proposal ahead of March’s EU summit focused on competitiveness. But pressure is also mounting from within, with pushback from the Trade Directorate-General – traditionally a staunch defender of an open EU market.
Paris, a long-time champion of a made in Europe strategy, says the concept has gained sufficient traction in Brussels to become reality and that the debate has now shifted to its implementation.
EU industry chief Stéphane Séjourné, who is overseeing the file, said on Tuesday that the European preference “entails quite a change of Europe’s economic doctrine”.
“It is therefore no surprises that it takes time and efforts to get to a common and smart version,” he added.
ONE of Asia’s biggest airport projects is underway and it will make it so much easier to travel to one of the country’s most famous landmarks.
Travellers will be able to get to the beautiful Taj Mahal so much quicker – in half the time – once building work is completed.
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A new, huge airport is under construction in IndiaCredit: Noida International AirportNoida’s International Airport will have lots of natural light, shops and restaurantsCredit: Noida International Airport
Noida International Airport is being built near Jewar in India and once fully constructed, will be one of Asia’s biggest airports.
The first phase will include the building of one terminal and one runway -which will handle 12million passengers each year.
The long-term masterplan could see it expand to accommodate up to 120million passengers per year with multiple terminals and up to six runways.
This would make it rival Asia’s other biggest and busiest airports including Beijing Daxing and Dubai International Airport.
Inside terminal one will be automated check-in kiosks, contactless boarding systems, spacious lounges and waiting zones.
The design of the airport is to make it easy for passengers to move about which it has done by separating the arrivals, departures and baggage areas.
There will be lots of seating too in zones between check-in, security and boarding.
The waiting areas will be air-conditioned, there will also be Wi-Fi, prayer rooms and child care areas.
As for its aesthetic, the terminal will be light and airy with a white and see-through roof that is wavy to mimic the flow of a river.
There’s a central courtyard where travellers can get some fresh air – it also has plenty of greenery and shaded areas.
Designs show escalators on the outside and inside, along with shops, restaurants and cafes.
The airport will sit in Jewar, which will make it easier for travellers heading to Agra where the Taj Mahal is.
The new airport will be light, airy and could see up to 120million passengersCredit: Noida International AirportThe new airport will be two hours from Agra, the home of the Taj MahalCredit: Getty Images
The mausoleum that sits on the bank of the river Yamuna in Agra sees up to eight million visitors every year.
Until the airport is up and running, travellers have to fly into New Delhi before heading almost four hours south by car.
The location of Noida International Airport will cut that travel time in half – from Jewar it will take just over two hours.
As for when the new airport will open, there is no date yet although local reports suggest it could be as early as next year.
Both IndiGo and Akasa Air have confirmed they will operate at the airport, although these will be for mainly domestic destinations.
When it comes to Brits, international routes are yet to confirmed if they will be to the UK, with destinations mentioned including Zurich and Dubai.
Current UK-India routes are operated by British Airways and Virgin Atlantic.
The original target opening was two years ago in September 2024, however construction is still ongoing.
The airport covers around 5,000 hectares, making it one of the largest airport sites in India once fully built.
King Salman International Airport is set to surpass all other airports in size, including the current biggest airport in the world which is also in the country.
The 22sqm airport will feature six runways – up from two – parallel to each other and will be built around the existing King Khalid International Airport.
It will approximately be the same size as Manhattan in New York – or twice the size of the city of Bath, in the UK.
And now the airport has moved into its construction phase.
The airport will be designed by Foster + Partners, a UK firm which is behind London‘s famous Gherkin.
Inside, travellers will be able to explore 4.6sqm of shops.
A lot of features in the airport are set to include high tech, such as climate-controlled lighted.
Travellers will have plenty of seating, indoor and outdoor spaces with greenery and vast glass windows, ideal for a bit of plane spotting.
The airport was announced back in 2022 and is part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman‘s Saudi Vision 2030 – which is set to make Riyadh into a major hub for transport, trade and tourism.
It will eventually accommodate up to 120million passengers each year, which is then expected to rise to 185million by 2050.
And the number of aircraft takeoffs will rise from 211,000 per year to over one million.
THE £100million plans to revamp Plymouth’s train station have been scrapped.
It was set to be a new ‘gateway’ for the city, completely transforming the current site – but these plans are now under review and unlikely to go ahead.
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Plans for a new £100million train station in Plymouth have been shelvedCredit: Plymouth City CouncilOriginal designs showed outdoor restaurants and seating areas by the stationCredit: Architecture and building consultancy AHR
Back in 2018, designs were first drawn up to transform the Devonshire station with a huge outdoor plaza and a revamp of Plymouth‘s train terminal.
The project called Brunel Plaza, would have seen 100 new homes built, a new hotel and a multi-storey car park.
There would have been a large pedestrian area too and outdoor dining spaces with seating areas.
The former railway offices behind the station were earmarked to become part of the university campus.
In the original plans this was even considered to have a top floor viewing room, and even a sky cafe, which was going to act as a “beacon” at night for the city.
It was being developed by AHR, which had been appointed by US-based engineering giant Tetra Tech to develop the Brunel Plaza design on behalf of Plymouth City Council.
Their initial document said the idea was to develop the public area outside Plymouth Station to create a mainly pedestrian area that will create a welcoming spot to those arriving in Plymouth.
At the time, it said the upgrade was needed because “the railway station and its surrounding environment currently acts as a poor gateway and arrival point into Plymouth”.
In 2024 the council said the plan faced years of delay, there were also questions about funding and certain planning consent had expired.
Part of the transformation did go ahead however, the former railway offices are now part of the University of Plymouth.
Called Intercity, the building was renovated and opened in 2023 as a place for trainee healthcare professionals.
Plymouth City Council has now said it will review the scheme and bring out a new business plan later this year.
It also said that it is looking at a package of ways to improve public transport for Plymouth.
The council has said it’s still looking at ways to improve public transport for PlymouthCredit: Architecture and building consultancy AHR
In 2023, Time Outrevealed the 14 destinations that should be on your list this year that aren’t the usual tourist spots.
Plymouth came in seventh place thanks to its art scene and rich history.
While the plans to renovate the train station for Plymouth have been paused, local media further added that a train station is being considered in Plympton.
The Plymouth suburb did once have a train station, but it closed to passengers in 1959 and to goods traffic until 1954.
Shortly afterwards it was demolished.
Some expressed they would like to see a station return – one local wrote on a Facebook post: “The station at Plympton is a must and it’s great that they are finally looking at bringing it back.”
A proposal to open a station at Plympton was first raised in 2018, but no official plans have been made or drawn up.
No one should be surprised that Leicester have appealed against their points deduction.
At no point have the Foxes admitted any wrongdoing, even with the evidence of their financial losses.
But this is a risky option as the appeal board can vary the penalty in any way. This includes increasing it, though that is believed to be unlikely.
Leicester’s position fluctuated over the course of the original hearing.
At one stage the club said a points deduction should be held back until they returned to the Premier League.
Then they shifted and claimed the independent commission did not have power to impose any sporting sanction. Then they said a fine should be levied… which should be zero.
Leicester are likely to again say that as a Championship club they cannot be punished for a Premier League rule break.
The Premier League, meanwhile, feels there was a mistake in failing to deduct one point for the late filing of accounts.
Leicester were found guilty on this count. But the independent commission chose not to apply any kind of penalty.
The Premier League disagrees and argues there is a principle at stake. If rules are broken there should be consequences.
If a club are allowed to file their accounts late and effectively get away without any sanction it offers no precedent or deterrent.
The Premier League has appealed on the basis that a sanction should be applied, in effect that one-point deduction.
The outcome of the two appeals could decide Leicester’s Championship status.
US president says at inaugural Board of Peace summit that Washington and Tehran should make a ‘meaningful deal’.
Donald Trump has renewed his threats against Iran, suggesting that Tehran has about 10 days to reach a deal with Washington or face further military strikes.
Speaking at the inaugural Board of Peace meeting in Washington, DC, on Thursday, the United States president reiterated his argument that the joint Israeli-US strikes against Iran in June of last year paved the way to the “ceasefire” in Gaza.
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Trump argued that without the US attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, the “threat” of Iran would have prevented countries in the region from agreeing to “peace in the Middle East”.
“So now we may have to take it a step further, or we may not,” Trump said. “Maybe we’re going to make a deal. You’re going to be finding out over the next probably 10 days.”
Trump’s comments come days after the US and Iran held a second round of indirect talks.
On Wednesday, Iran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi said the two sides made “good progress in the negotiations” in Geneva and “were able to reach broad agreement on a set of guiding principles” for an agreement.
But the US has continued to amass military assets in the Gulf region, including two aircraft carriers and dozens of fighter jets.
Iran, which denies seeking a nuclear weapon, has said it would agree to curbing its uranium enrichment and placing it under rigorous international inspection.
But the Trump administration has said that it would oppose any Iranian enrichment. Washington has also sought to place limits on Tehran’s missile arsenal, but Iranian officials have ruled out any concessions over the issue, which they say is a non-negotiable defence principle.
On Thursday, Trump said his diplomatic aides Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have had “very good meetings” with Iran’s representatives.
“We have to make a meaningful deal. Otherwise, bad things happen,” he said.
Last week, Trump said the US and Iran should come to an agreement “over the next month”, warning Tehran with “very traumatic” consequences.
But Iranian officials have expressed defiance against the US president’s threats.
“The Americans constantly say that they’ve sent a warship toward Iran. Of course, a warship is a dangerous piece of military hardware,” Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei wrote on X on Thursday.
“However, more dangerous than that warship is the weapon that can send that warship to the bottom of the sea.”
Tensions between the Washington and Tehran have been escalating since late 2025, when Trump – while hosting Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in December – vowed to strike Iran again if attempts to rebuild its nuclear or missile programmes.
Days later, antigovernment protests broke out in Iran. Trump encouraged the demonstrators to take over state institutions, promising them that “help is on the way”.
Trump appeared to step back from the brink of attacking Iran last month, saying that the country agreed to halt the execution of dissidents under US pressure.
The two countries later renewed negotiations with the first round of talks since the June war taking place in Oman on February 6.
But threats and hostile rhetoric between Washington and Tehran have persisted despite the ongoing diplomacy.
In 2018, during his first term Trump nixed the multilateral nuclear deal that saw Iran scale back its nuclear programme in exchange for lifting international sanctions against its economy.
DANNIELLA Westbrook has finally revealed the full extent of her recent surgery makeover after undergoing a full face, neck and brow lift.
The former soap star underwent multiple facial surgeries weeks ago in Dubai and was spotted looking swollen and bruised as she emerged from surgery.
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Danniella has unveiled the results of her facial operations – but couldn’t resist adding a filter or twoCredit: BackGridDanniella showed off her new face in a series of snaps but ensured they were filtered so she was looking her bestCredit: BackGridThe star pictured leaving her operations earlier this monthCredit: BackGridDanniella pictured in 1995 before undergoing any surgeriesCredit: Getty
But now the ‘results’ have been revealed with Danniella sharing a slew of new snaps post-surgery but ever the perfectionist, the star couldn’t resist adding a filter or two to the images before she posted them online.
The star’s new images featured a helping hand in order to enhance her appearance even more post-surgery.
The axed EastEnders star could be seen posing on a towel as she enjoyed the Dubai heat.
Wearing a blue bikini, Danniella showed off her filtered face and her body in the images.
She pulled a series of sultry poses in which evidence of her recent nose operations could be seen thanks to some slight bruising still visible around the nostril area.
In another image, Danniella opted to wear a pair of glasses as she laid back and relaxed in the sunshine.
Danniella had a full face, neck and brow lift in addition to a lip and nose reconstruction.
Following the operation, she left the facility in a wheelchair with a facial compression garment wrapped around her head.
A full recovery for a face, neck and chin lift can take up to nine months.
The star popped a filter on her selfies for good measureCredit: BackGridShe wasn’t shy about showing off her body either in the imagesCredit: BackGridDanniella’s face has changed drastically over the years thanks to surgery and heavy drug abuseCredit: Shutterstock
The surgery was performed by Danniella’s trusted Surgeon Dr Parviz Sadigh, who has carried out operations on her in the past.
Danniella became hooked on drugs at the age of 14 after beginning to take cocaine after shooting to fame as Sam Mitchell in the BBC soap opera, EastEnders.
The former star estimates that she has spent a whopping £250,000 on cocaine in her lifetime and was using at least five grams a day throughout her entire pregnancy with son, Kai.
Danniella was addicted to drugs throughout the 1990s and early 2000.
She then managed to stay clean before a number of relapses including in 2017 – the year after she last appeared on EastEnders.
Her latest known drug relapse was in 2021.
This abuse led to the collapse of her nose and cheekbones, with her septum – the cartilage that separates the two nostrils – falling out.
At the time, the star admitted she was hoping to rebuild her face so that she can kick start her acting career once again.
On the day of her surgery, she said: “Big day for me heading down for a very long surgery right now to rebuild my face.
“Then I can get back to work.”
Danniella on-set of EastEnders during her last appearance in 2016Credit: BBCThe star pictured on Celebrity Big Brother in 2016Credit: GettyHer face changed drastically just a couple of years laterCredit: Splash
There are two, seemingly irreconcilable, stories of how the Palisades fire became a deadly and destructive behemoth dominating post-fire discourse. One is told by the residents who lived through it, and the other by the government officials who responded to it.
Government officials have routinely argued they had little agency to change the outcome of a colossal fire fanned by intense winds. Palisadians point to a string of government missteps they say clearly led to and exacerbated the disaster.
Officials’ unwillingness to acknowledge any mistakes has only sharpened residents’ focus on them, functionally bringing to a grinding halt any discourse around how the two groups can work to prevent the next disaster.
Instead, residents have been left feeling gaslighted by their own government, while fire officials struggle to navigate the backlash to new fire safety measures.
When officials and residents do talk solutions, the former tend to emphasize personal responsibility — most prominently, Zone Zero, which will require residents to remove flammable materials and plants near their homes — while the latter often push for greater government responsibility: a bolstered fire service and a beefed-up water system.
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The Fire Department failed to put out the Lachman fire a week prior. Mayor Karen Bass then left the country during dangerous weather while the deputy mayor for public safety position was vacant after Brian K. Williams, who formerly held the role, was put on leave after allegedly making a bomb threat against City Hall. L.A.’s city Fire Department officials failed to deploy 1,000 firefighters in advance of the fire and did not call for firefighters to work extended hours, while dozens of fire engines were out of commission at the time, waiting for repairs.
An aircraft drops fire retardant on the Palisades fire on Jan. 8, 2025.
However, when government officials — be it the mayor, the fire chief or the governor — describe the fire, they tell a different story:
The day after the fire erupted, Bass placed some of the blame on climate change, which some scientists argue has exacerbated fires in the area by increasing the frequency and intensity of hot, dry and windy conditions. Fire officials stressed that the winds during the first few days of the fires were so strong that there was little even the best-equipped fire service could do and that the fire grew so large that there wasn’t a single fire hydrant system in the world that could handle the demand.
Many residents don’t deny that, under such extreme conditions and after the fire reached a certain scale and ferocity, the destruction became inevitable — and there are many who would just like to move on from January 2025.
However, others remain frustrated that these official versions of the story do not acknowledge the government’s failure to prepare for such conditions and its failure to stop the fire before it passed the threshold of inevitability. Indeed, at times, officials have shied away from these uncomfortable discussions to shield themselves from potential liability.
One telling example: On the one-year anniversary of the fire, residents gathered to voice these frustrations at a protest in the heart of the neighborhood. But when Bass was asked to comment on the event, she dismissed it as an unfit way to commemorate the anniversary and accused organizers of profiting off the disaster.
Survivors gathered in Palisades Village to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Palisades fire on Jan. 7, 2026.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
This sort of dismissal has essentially forestalled any constructive discussions of climate change, the limits of the fire service and water systems and proposals like Zone Zero, since so many Palisadians now feel like any of that is just a fig leaf for the government’s agency and responsibility, and not a good faith discussion of how to solve the wildfire problem.
The reality is, how climate change is influencing wildfires in Southern California is still a subject of debate among scientists. That doesn’t mean that local leaders need to sit on their hands and wait for consensus. Experts can easily point to a litany of steps that can be taken to better protect residents, regardless of how profound the impact is of global warming on fire risk in the region.
Fire scientists and fire service veterans (who have the pleasure of speaking freely in retirement) argue both personal responsibility and government responsibility play key roles in preventing disasters:
Home hardening and defensible space slow down the dangerous chain reaction in which a wildfire jumps into an urban area and spreads from house to house. It is then the responsibility of a prepared and capable fire service to use that extra time to stop the destruction in its tracks.
The bottom line is that neither the government’s story nor the residents’ story of the Palisades fire is fundamentally wrong. And neither is fully complete.
The conversations around fire preparedness that need to happen next will require both homeowners and government officials to acknowledge they both have real agency and responsibility to shape the outcome of the next fire.
More recent wildfire news
Mayor Karen Bass personally directed the watering down of the city Fire Department’s after-action report on the Palisades fire in an attempt to limit the city’s legal liability, my colleague Alene Tchekmedyian reports. The revelations come after Bass repeatedly denied any involvement in the editing of the report to downplay failures.
Last Thursday, California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta announced his office had opened a civil rights investigation into the fire preparations and response for the Eaton fire, looking for any potential disparities in the historically Black west Altadena, my colleague Grace Toohey reports. West Altadena received late evacuation alerts, and officials allocated limited firefighting resources to the neighborhood.
Meanwhile, the federal government is hard at work attempting to unify federal firefighting resources within the Department of the Interior — including from the Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service — into one U.S. Wildland Fire Service by the end of the year. The effort does not yet include the federal government’s largest firefighting team in the U.S. Forest Service. Because it is housed under the Department of Agriculture, not the Department of the Interior, merging it into the U.S. Wildland Fire Service would probably require congressional approval.
A few last things in climate news
An investigation from my colleague Hayley Smith found that, as Southern California’s top air pollution authority weighed a proposal to phase out gas-powered appliances, it was inundated with at least 20,000 AI-generated emails opposing the measure. When staff reached out to a subset of people listed as submitters of the comments, only five responded, with three saying they had no knowledge of the letters. The authority ultimately scrapped the proposal.
The National Science Foundation announced last week that a supercomputer in Wyoming used by thousands of scientists to simulate and research the climate would be transferred from a federally funded research institute to an unnamed “third-party operator.” It left scientists shocked and concerned.
The Department of Energy has made new nuclear energy a priority; however, no new commercial-scale nuclear facilities are currently under construction, and it’s unclear how the U.S., which imports most of the uranium used by its current reactors, would fuel any new nuclear power plants. These sorts of technical challenges have vexed nuclear advocates who are fighting against a decades-long stagnation in nuclear development, triggered primarily by safety concerns.
This is the latest edition of Boiling Point, a newsletter about climate change and the environment in the American West. Sign up here to get it in your inbox. And listen to our Boiling Point podcast here.
CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — In some families, children are expected to attend the same college as their parents or root for mom or dad’s favorite team.
In Azaria Hill’s family, the children were encouraged to go to the Olympics. Not to watch, but to compete.
Hill’s father Virgil, a boxer, earned a silver medal at the 1984 Summer Games. Hill’s mother, Denean Howard, met Virgil at the 1984 Games and won Olympic gold that year running with her sister, Sherri Howard, in the 4×400-meter relay. The sisters won silver medals in the 4×400 at the 1988 Olympics before Denean earned another silver at the 1992 Games.
“At a very young age, since I could understand what the Olympics were and knew what my family did as Olympians, I knew that’s something that I wanted to do and wanted to experience,” Hill said.
But her top marks of 11.70 seconds in the 100 meters and 23.93 in the 200 didn’t rank in the top 100 for U.S. women in 2021, her senior year at Nevada Las Vegas. So if she was going to continue the family tradition, she knew she’d have to find another sport.
Jadin O’Brien was in a similar fix. She won two NCAA titles in the pentathlon but finished seventh at the U.S. trials ahead of the 2024 Games. To realize her Olympic dream, she’d have to change sports too.
Luckily for both women, there was a well-worn path from the track to the Winter Olympics: Just hop onto a sled. On Friday, Hill and O’Brien will complete their journeys when the two-woman bobsled competition gets underway at the Cortina Sliding Centre.
“I never thought that this would even be a possibility or an opportunity,” Hill said. “It just kind of fell into my lap and I was really good at it. I stuck it out and worked hard and here I am a Winter Olympian.”
She has Kaysha Love, a UNLV teammate, to thank for that. An 11-time high school track champion in Utah, Love was encouraged by her college coach to take part in a 12-day bobsled rookie camp after COVID shortened the track season her senior year. That led to more auditions and 14 months later she and pilot Kaillie Humphries won a World Cup race.
U.S. bobsledders Azaria Hill, left, and Kaysha Love take part in a training run Wednesday in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.
(Aijaz Rahi / Associated Press)
After just six races, Love made the 2022 U.S. Olympic team as a brakewoman. She then tried to sell Hill on the sport.
“She was like ‘I think you should try it. Let’s see if you can do it,’” Hill remembered. “I went to my first rookie camp and I did really well, got invited back to some more camps, and ended up making my first World Cup team.”
That was in December 2023. Two years later she made it to the Olympics as the brakewoman for Love, who is now a driver.
“That’s completely opposite of what I thought I’d be doing,” Hill said. “The first time it is definitely scary. I was like, ‘I don’t know if I can do this. I don’t know if I even want to do this.’ It is an acquired taste.
“But Keisha Love was just super positive.”
O’Brien’s rise to Olympian in the two-person bobsled, the second-fastest sliding sport of the Winter Games, has been even swifter. Elana Meyers Taylor, a five-time Olympian and five-time medalist, began recruiting O’Brien to be her brakewoman after the Beijing Games. At first she resisted, but last summer O’Brien decided she needed a rest from track “and bobsled seemed like a good alternative, so I took it up.”
Jadin O’Brien, left, and Elana Meyers Taylor prepare for a bobsled training run at the Milan-Cortina Olympic Games on Wednesday.
(Aijaz Rahi / Associated Press)
In her World Cup debut four months later, O’Brien pushed Taylor to a fourth-place finish, earning a spot on the Olympic team.
“There was so much I needed to learn,” she said. “Luckily there were quite a few girls who were very patient with me, who helped me understand the sport, understand form.”
One of the most important things she had to learn is when to pull the brake.
“If you do it too early, then you’re going to drastically hurt your time. If you do it too late, there’s a chance you’re going to ruin the runners because the track ends at a certain point,” O’Brien said.
And that decision has to be made in a heartbeat at the end of a mile-long ice chute covered at speeds exceeding 90 mph.
“It’s terrifying. You’re going super, super fast. As a brakeman you can’t see what’s going on because your head is down,” she said. “But at the same time it’s very thrilling. You feel like you’re flying if the run is done right. It’s almost addicting.”
Track athletes like Hill, 27, and O’Brien, 23, have a long history of success in bobsled, where speed and power at the start are important. Lauryn Williams won a gold medal on the track in the 2012 London Games and a silver on the back of Taylor’s sled two years later in Sochi. Lolo Jones won three world championships on the track and two in a bobsled. Most of the Jamaican team in Cortina is made up of sprinters who couldn’t catch Usain Bolt, so they climbed in a bobsled instead.
“They’ve got just an athleticism that is very applicable to pushing sleds,” said Curtis Tomasevicz, a former football player at Nebraska who won gold and silver Olympic medals in the four-man bobsled before becoming a coach with the U.S. team. “We’re recruiting athletes that have a sprinting ability and we feel like we can teach them to be bobsledders in a short amount of time.”
For Hill, that transition from the sprints to a sled has allowed her to carry on a family tradition. And she’ll have 11 relatives — including two Olympic medalists — at the Cortina Sliding Centre on Friday when she creates her own memories as the first Hill to compete in the Winter Games.
“They’re super excited seeing me on this journey, being that I’ve been able to kind of follow my own mission, create something for myself,” she said. “It’s almost like they’re kind of experiencing it again, but just in a different way.
“This has definitely exceeded my expectations of what I thought being an Olympian would be. It’s so much fun.”
Feb. 19 (UPI) — The United States has put military forces in place in the Middle East for a potential strike on Iran but President Donald Trump has not decided whether to attack or continue negotiations on Thursday.
A strike could occur as early as this weekend, with naval and air forces quickly coming into place. National security officials met in the Situation Room on Wednesday to discuss courses of action against Iran.
U.S. armed forces have been assembling in the Middle East in recent weeks as the United States and Iran have negotiated a scaling back of Iran’s nuclear program. The latest conversations took place in Geneva on Tuesday, sans Trump who said he would be involved “indirectly.”
The negotiations between the United States and Iran ended without a resolution on Tuesday. Trump has called for Iran to end its nuclear program.
Iranian officials said they agreed with U.S. negotiators on a “set of guiding principles.” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said to expect more details about these negotiations to come forward in the weeks to come. She did not say whether Trump would take action before that happens.
“I’m not going to set deadlines on behalf of the president of the United States,” she said.
In recent weeks, the United States has moved warships to the Indian Ocean while Trump warned Iran over the killings and detainments of thousands of protesters against the Iranian regime.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has an interest in Iran drawing down its missile capabilities as well. Israeli forces have been on alert over the possibility of an open conflict as tensions have continued to heighten.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is slated to meet with Netanyahu in Israel on Feb. 28, to provide an update on the negotiations with Iran.
The United States launched strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities in June, causing what Iranian officials called “serious and significant damage.”
President Donald Trump speaks alongside Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency Lee Zeldin in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Thursday. The Trump administration has announced the finalization of rules that revoke the EPA’s ability to regulate climate pollution by ending the endangerment finding that determined six greenhouse gases could be categorized as dangerous to human health. Photo by Will Oliver/UPI | License Photo
Weekly insights and analysis on the latest developments in military technology, strategy, and foreign policy.
As the U.S. flows assets toward the Middle East, including the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group (CSG) now reportedly off the Moroccan coast, Iran, China and Russia will hold their recurring joint naval training exercise in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iranian media. Moscow and Tehran see the Maritime Security Belt 2026 exercise as particularly relevant in light of current events, and there are reasons for the White House and Pentagon to take note. Having Russian or Chinese warships in these waters amid a U.S. attack on Iran could have military and political implications planners must address. At the same time, the timing of the still ongoing U.S. buildup and the exercise point to it having more of a messaging effect than an operational one.
The exercise, first held in 2019, is being hosted in the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas, located on the Strait of Hormuz. Russian, Chinese, and Iranian naval units “are expected to participate with various ships and operational capabilities to test coordination, tactical readiness, and rapid-response procedures in the Strait of Hormuz,” the official Iranian Mehr news outlet reported.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) declined to comment on the exercise.
As Iranian and Russian officials gathered Wednesday aboard the Russian corvette Stoiky, a top Iranian official issued a new threat against the growing U.S. Navy presence in the region, which includes the Abraham Lincoln CSG and at least eight other surface combatants. The Ford could arrive in the region in the next four or five days given its location posted by the MarineTraffic ship tracking website. The Navy said only that the ship is now in the Atlantic Ocean.
If the USS Gerald R. Ford keeps her current speed, she will be off the coast of Israel and be able to assist in the defense against an Iranian retaliation by Sunday morning. pic.twitter.com/7OhMJDRxwZ
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has faced threats, noise, propaganda and the presence of extra-regional fleets in West Asia for 47 years, Iran’s Navy Commander Rear Adm. Shahram Irani warned. “The presence of extra-regional fleets in West Asia is unjustified.”
“If the extra-regional fleet feels it has come with power, it should know that the Iranian people will confront them with greater power,” he added. “The faith of the people and missiles are the Islamic Republic of Iran’s deterrent weapons against the enemy.”
Nikolai Patrushev, a top aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, framed the exercise as part of a larger struggle between the U.S. and the BRICS alliance, an informal group of 21 nations that includes Russia, China and Iran. Patrushev took aim at the ongoing U.S. and NATO efforts to seize tankers containing Russian oil as well as the ongoing tensions between Washington and Tehran.
“We will tap into the potential of BRICS, which should now be given a full-fledged strategic maritime dimension,” Patrushev posited. “The Maritime Security Belt 2026 exercises in the Strait of Hormuz, where Russia, China, and Iran [will send] their ships, proves to be relevant.”
Both Russia and Iran say the exercise will increase their ability to work together.
“The level of existing interactions and cooperation shows that we can manage and resolve many maritime and coastal issues together,” Captain First Rank Alexey Sergeev, commander of the Russian naval group, said, according to The Telegraph. “We are ready to hold joint exercises in any region, including specialised drills such as anti-maritime terrorism operations that will be executed with vessels and boats from both sides.”
Bandar Abbas is a key Iranian military site located on the strategically and economically important Strait of Hormuz. (Google Earth)
Experts we spoke with say the presence of a small number of Russian and Chinese ships in the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman does not pose a significant threat to U.S. interests, but could complicate efforts to attack Iran. They also note that this exercise was likely planned months ago, well before U.S. President Donald Trump started threatening Iran over its harsh treatment of anti-regime protesters.
“I don’t believe it increases in any significant way the likelihood of conflict with Russia and China, but it probably would introduce additional considerations for any planned strikes against Iran,” Tom Shugart, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) think tank and a retired U.S. Navy submarine warfare officer told us Wednesday morning.
“For starters, you’d want to make sure that their sensors don’t give advanced warning of your strike to the Iranians, and you’d want to make sure that those Russian and Chinese platforms aren’t in the way,” he explained. “You’d also of course want to ensure that there is no way they could be inadvertently struck a la USS Stark during the Iraq-Iran Tanker Wars of the 1980s.”
The Stark, an Oliver-Hazard Perry class guided-missile frigate, was hit by two Iraqi Exocet missiles while in the Persian Gulf on May 17, 1987. The strike killed 37 sailors and wounded 21 others.
The USS Stark after it was struck by two Iraqi Exocet anti-ship missiles in 1987. (U.S. Navy)
Shugart downplayed the timing of the exercise, given that its planning has been in the works for a while.
“I also don’t think that the small number of Russian and Chinese ships involved amount to much militarily relative to U.S. naval forces in the region – though their presence might matter politically, should the administration decide it wants to take military action against Iran,” he explained.
“I don’t think this fundamentally changes anything,” former CENTCOM commander Joseph Votel told us. “It is an easy way for Russia and China to show support after having abandoned Iran last summer.”
“Certainly the timing makes it seem more provocative,” Votel added. “There is likely also an internal message for regime supporters – pushing back on the U.S. and Israel.”
“I don’t think it raises the threat of conflict,” the former CENTCOM commander surmised. “I view it as a form of great power competition.”
The presence of Russian and Chinese ships near Bandar Abbas, a major center of Iranian military activity, could complicate U.S. targeting if they remain in the area. The coastal city would be a prime target to take out many types of kinetic capabilities, sensors, and other assets, especially Iran’s naval forces. Still, the Chinese and Russian ships should leave at some point and the U.S. would know their location and it doesn’t appear the U.S. is in a place to strike yet. Unless the exercise goes on for weeks, the Russian and Chinese ships will likely have moved on by the time all the pieces are in place for a U.S.-led kinetic operation to begin.
Dubbed “Smart Control of the Strait of Hormuz,” the drills began Monday and include firing anti-ship cruise missiles at targets and IRGC naval drone and submarine units carrying out operations originating from the three Iranian islands, according to Iranian media.
“The armed drones used in the exercise—capable of engaging both air and sea targets—are among the IRGC Navy’s newest strategic platforms and are deployed in significant numbers, though their names and technical specifications remain classified,” the official Iranian FARS News outlet claimed.
We’ll have to wait and see how the exercises unfold, especially as the U.S. buildup fully matures. But at this time it seems that the presence of these vessels is more of a political factor than an operational one, at least for the time being.
For more than a century, South Los Angeles has been an anchor for Black art, activism and commerce — from the 1920s when Central Avenue was the epicenter of the West Coast jazz scene to recent years as artists and entrepreneurs reinvigorate the area with new developments such as Destination Crenshaw.
Now, the region’s legacy is receiving formal recognition as a Black cultural district, a landmark move that aims to preserve South L.A.’s rich history and stimulate economic growth. State Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Los Angeles), who led the effort, helped secure $5.5 million in state funding to support the project, and last December the state agency California Arts Council voted unanimously to approve the designation. The district, formally known as the Historic South Los Angeles Black Cultural District, is now one of 24 state-designated cultural districts, which also includes the newly added Black Arts Movement and Business District in Oakland.
Prior to this vote, there were no state designations that recognized the Black community — a realization that made Smallwood-Cuevas jump into action.
“It was very frustrating for me to learn that Black culture was not included,” said Smallwood-Cuevas, who represents South L.A. Other cultural districts include L.A.’s Little Tokyo and San Diego’s Barrio Logan Cultural District, which is rooted in Chicano history. Given all of the economic and cultural contributions that South L.A. has made over the years through events like the Leimert Park and Central Avenue jazz festivals and beloved businesses like Dulan’s on Crenshaw and the Lula Washington Dance Theatre, Smallwood-Cuevas believed the community deserved to be recognized. She worked on this project alongside LA Commons, a non-profit devoted to community-arts programs.
Beyond mere recognition, Smallwood-Cuevas said the designation serves as “an anti-displacement strategy,” especially as the demographics of South L.A. continue to change.
“Black people have experienced quite a level of erasure in South L.A.,” added Karen Mack, founder and executive director of LA Commons. “A lot of people can’t afford to live in areas that were once populated by us, so to really affirm our history, to affirm that we matter in the story of Los Angeles, I think is important.”
The Historic South L.A. Cultural District spans roughly 25 square miles, situated between Adams Boulevard to the north, Manchester Boulevard to the south, Central Avenue to the east and La Brea Avenue to the west.
Now that the designation has been approved, Smallwood-Cuevas and LA Commons have turned their attention to the monument — the physical landmark that will serve as the district’s entrance or focal point — trying to determine whether it should be a gateway, bridge, sculpture or something else. And then there’s the bigger question: Where should it be placed? After meeting with organizations like the Black Planners of Los Angeles and community leaders, they’ve narrowed their search down to eight potential locations including Exposition Park, Central Avenue and Leimert Park, which received the most votes in a recent public poll that closed earlier this month.
As organizers work to finalize the location for the cultural district’s monument by this summer, we’ve broken down the potential sites and have highlighted their historical relevance. (Please note: Although some of the sites are described as specific intersections, such as Jefferson and Crenshaw boulevards, organizers think of them more as general areas.)
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) endorsed former Rep. Katie Porter, her protege and former Harvard Law School student, for California governor on Thursday.
“From the moment Katie set foot in my consumer law class, I knew that she would be a warrior for working families,” Warren said in a statement, citing Porter’s work on the foreclosure crisis as well as her questioning of corporate leaders and members of the Trump administration while wielding a white board in hearings when she represented an Orange County district in Congress.
“No one will stand up to Trump with more grit and determination than Katie,” Warren said. “But just as importantly, she will champion the kind of bold, progressive vision that California workers and families deserve.”
The endorsement comes on the cusp of the California Democratic Party’s convention in San Francisco this weekend, at a time that there is no true front-runner in the crowded race to replace termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Porter was initially viewed as having a potential edge in the race, but her prospects dimmed after videos emerged in October of the UC Irvine law professor scolding a reporter and swearing at an aide. She expressed remorse for her behavior.
Warren and Porter, who met more than two decades ago, have a long-standing relationship, to the point that the senator is the namesake of one of Porter’s children.
Porter endorsed Warren during the 2020 presidential campaign, which caused consternation among some California Democrats since then-Sen. Kamala Harris, who as state attorney general appointed Porter in 2012 to oversee a $25-billion mortgage settlement with the nation’s top banks, was also running for the White House.
Porter pointed to their shared values, such as fighting to protect consumer protection in Congress, as she responded to Warren’s endorsement.
“Senator Warren and I fought together in Congress to hold Big Banks and giant corporations that cheat the American people accountable,” Porter said. “From the classroom to the Capitol, we have made … fighting for working families our lifework. I’ll be a governor who is unbought, undeterred, and unwilling to continue the special interest status quo that has left too many Californians behind.”
The new UCLA football coaching staff has been in touch with one of their top recruits arriving in 2027.
Weston Port, the former San Juan Hills High standout linebacker, is finishing up his second year as a Mormon missionary on assignment in Spain.
New linebacker coach Vic So’oto has been in contact with Port and once tried to recruit him to Cal.
If you’re looking for a talented linebacker look no further than Weston Port 6’1″ 225 San Juan Hills HS, CA. His game film looks like a highlight tape. Seems to make every tackle. Great instincts and a great motor. Side to side quickness.@PortWeston 3.9 GPA. Big time. pic.twitter.com/2zZiw4K5Ed
Port exercises when he has time while visiting various cities. His mission ends in December and he’ll be ready to join UCLA for spring practice in 2027 while focusing on getting back into playing shape.
His father said in a message, “Weston remains committed to UCLA and is eager and excited to get back to football once his service is completed.”
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.
A MULTI-MILLION upgrade is set to transform a popular Center Parcs resort.
The family-favourite holiday park has announced it is building brand-new lodges as well as adding thrilling activities to its roster – including an aerial ride.
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Center Parcs in Ireland is expanding its activities with an aerial ziplineCredit: CentreparcsNew treehouse lodges are set to be built – and other new ones have hot tubsCredit: Centreparcs
The Center Parcs in Co. Longford is set in 400 acres of forest with over 100 attractions – and it’s undergoing a €100million expansion (£87million).
The holiday park has announced that it is adding even more activities to its site including an aerial zipline.
It will be called the Forest Glider which is expected to open in autumn – and it’s described as “a continuous-loop, gravity-fed ride”.
It was also announced in August 2025, that it would be adding a lakeside restaurant to its site.
And even more guests will be able to book a stay there too as it is constructing a further 83 new lodges.
In the planning phase are treehouses which will be a top of the range stay across two storeys with hot tubs and gaming dens.
Currently, there are 466 lodges, but the expansion will bring that number up to 693 and the capacity of guests up to 3,500.
Some other lodges are already being built with bookings available to make between December 2026 and April 2027.
These were announced last year, it said “we’re introducing newForest Lodges with Hot Tubsfor the ultimate relaxing break and spacious6-Bedroom Woodland Lodgesfor larger groups“.
The Forest Lodges with hot tubs are the ones you’ll want to book for the ultimate “relaxing break”.
Each bedroom has an additional en-suite bathroom – and inside the main lodge is also a wine cooler, hydrobath and even a private sauna in some three-bedroom Forest Lodges.
Most of its four-bedroom Forest Lodges have games rooms with pool tables.
Meanwhile, six-bedroom Woodland Lodges are also being built which are ideal for larger groups as they sleep up to 12.
The holiday park is set in 400 acres of woodland around a man-made lakeCredit: Centerparcs
Inside are spacious bedrooms, family bathrooms, shower rooms and a generous open plan living space along with a fully-fitted kitchen.
The Irish Independent reported that one of the new six-bedroom lodges for up to 12 was priced from €1,899 (£1,660.58) for a four-night midweek stay early next year.
The price rises to €5,099 (£4,458.82) for the same period over the February midterm.
The Irish Center Parcs site officially opened on July 29, 2019 and since then has welcomed over one million guests.
It’s built around a man-made lake which is used for watersports like canoeing, kayaking, paddleboarding, and even sessions on an inflatable obstacle course.
It’s included in the price for guests who can take advantage of its indoor and outdoor pools, along with kids’ splash zones and whirlpools, along with its Canopy Café.
Some of the most popular activities are its adventure golf, aerial adventure and laser combat.
A recent addition at the site are two escape rooms, The Plant Room and Forest Laboratory.
Few places in Ukraine have been spared from the impact of the Ukraine war, including the radioactive exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear plant. Al Jazeera’s Nils Adler has been seeing how the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster has been affected by the war.
THE Cotswolds is already a great place to visit, but nearby is a farm that parents are raving about as a great day out,
Millets Farm opened back in 1952, originally as a dairy farm.
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Millets Farm in Oxfordshire has lots of great activities for the familyCredit: MilletsFor example, you can head off on a farm animal walkCredit: Millets
Now, the farm is home to multiple attractions including a play barn, Maize Maze and Farmyard Golf.
The attraction is split into pre-booked activities and no pre-booking required activities.
For example, you could head off on the Millets Animal Walkway, where visitors will see a number of farm animals including goats, chickens, rabbits, horses, birds and alpacas.
The play area also doesn’t need pre-booking and has a mix of swings, slides, climbing frames and more.
There are also token-operated ride-on tractors, diggers and a crane which little ones can go on.
One token costs £1.75, three tokens cost £4.50 and five tokens cost £6.
If the weather isn’t rainy, you can also check out the 10 acre Phoebe Wood, where there are a number of woodland walks.
There are then several activities you have to book ahead for, such as Sprouts Play Barn with a four-lane wavy cow slide, 360 tunnel, a ‘mini Millets farmers market’ with seven soft role-play areas, a sports court and an area for under five-year-olds.
One recent visitor said: “This has to be the best soft play in Oxfordshire, it’s absolutely huge and offers a great variety of activities and play equipment for a wide age range.
“There’s a little baby area at the front, and then lots of fun for bigger kids on the higher levels.”
Another visitor added: “The soft play was the best we have ever been to (and we have been to A LOT).
“Every section was clean, looked brand new and so well thought out.
“It’s huge with four floors and the under fives section is also the biggest I’ve seen.”
Included in the Sprouts admission tickets, you also get access to the outdoor play area which has slides, beams and water play.
There’s also an indoor and outdoor play areaCredit: Millets
